JPH0337967A - Rechargeable battery, vehicle using rechargeable battery, and its automatic charger - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically replace and charge a battery by installing contact type terminals for power receiving on sides of the battery. CONSTITUTION:For automatically charging a rechargeable battery 1, in which contact type terminals 3 for power receiving are installed, mounted on a carrying car 11, the carrying car 11 is moved to an automatic charger and the power source is switched to an auxiliary battery 18. The rechargeable battery 1 is transferred to the automatic charger side through both delivery units 14, then carried to the automatic charger through a carrying unit for conducting automatic charging. On the other hand, a rechargeable battery which has already finished charging on the automatic charger side is transferred to the carrying car 11 through the carrying unit and both delivery units 14, then the auxiliary battery 18 is released and the carrying car 11 starts operation. The rechargeable battery is automatically replaced and charged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a rechargeable battery, a vehicle using the rechargeable battery, and an automatic charging device thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, an automatic guided vehicle is equipped with a rechargeable battery, and a conventional automatic guided vehicle will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 51 denotes an automatic guided vehicle, and a storage chamber 54 for a rechargeable battery (j A battery 53 is placed on a support plate 55.

Note that 56 is a connector for connecting the battery 53 and the carrier body 52, and 57 is a door of the storage chamber 54.

In the above configuration, the battery can be operated by manually replacing the battery based on time management, or by self-charging the battery while it is placed on a transport vehicle without replacing the battery. There is. That is, as a method for manually replacing the battery, after a certain period of time has elapsed, the transport vehicle 51 is first stopped at an arbitrary position, the power is turned off, and then the door 57 of the storage chamber 54 of the transport vehicle 51 is opened. Then, pull out the support plate 55, disconnect the connector 56 from the carrier body 52, and connect the battery 5.
Take out 3. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the chuck 59a at the tip of the connection cord 59 extending from the battery charger 58 is connected to the terminal portion 53a of the battery 53 taken out, and charging is performed. In this method, the battery 53 that has been charged in this manner is manually stored in the transport vehicle 51 again.

On the other hand, as an operating method using automatic charging, as shown in FIG. This is a method of charging by making contact.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention When replacing a battery manually, it is necessary to replace the battery regardless of the frequency of use of the battery, which is extremely troublesome. On the other hand, in the method using automatic charging, although it is possible to eliminate the manual battery replacement work, the terminal receptacle 63 for automatic charging is installed in the transport vehicle body 62.
is installed, so if a transport command is issued during automatic charging, sufficient charging will not be possible, and if such incomplete charging conditions overlap, the system will eventually stop. There was a problem with this.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a rechargeable battery, a vehicle using the rechargeable battery, and an automatic charging device thereof that can solve the above problems.

Means for Solving F [In order to solve the above problems, the rechargeable battery of the present invention has
A contact terminal for receiving power is provided on the side of the battery body.

In addition, a vehicle using the rechargeable battery of the present invention has a storage chamber for the rechargeable battery that has a contact type terminal for receiving power on the side surface of the vehicle body, and a storage chamber for the rechargeable battery that has a contact terminal for receiving power on the side, and a storage chamber for storing the rechargeable battery on the lower surface of the storage chamber. It is equipped with a delivery device that can freely transfer data to and from the device, and is also equipped with an auxiliary battery.

Further, the automatic charging device for a rechargeable battery of the present invention is an automatic charging device that receives a rechargeable battery from a vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery having a contact type terminal and automatically charges the battery, and the automatic charging device has a charger installed on the side of the device body. A charging device-side delivery device is provided to transfer the charged battery to and from the vehicle-side delivery device, and a charging device-side delivery device is provided to transfer the charged battery between the charging device-side delivery device and an automatic charger installed at an appropriate location on the device body. The battery is equipped with a transport device for carrying the battery.

Effect In the above configuration, when automatically charging a rechargeable battery that is mounted on a transport vehicle and equipped with a contact terminal for receiving power, the transport vehicle is first driven to the automatic charging device, and then the auxiliary battery is charged. Switch. Next, the rechargeable battery is transferred to the automatic charging device through both transfer devices.
! ll! After being transferred to the automatic charger via a transfer device, the battery is automatically charged. On the other hand, the charged battery, which has already been charged on the automatic charging device side, is transferred to the transport vehicle via the transport device and both of the above-mentioned delivery locations, and then the auxiliary battery is released and the transport vehicle is transported. Set off to work.

Example Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

First, the rechargeable battery 1 will be explained based on FIG. 1. The rechargeable battery 1 has, for example, female side plate-shaped contact terminals 3 provided on both sides of a battery body 2. Of course, the terminal 3 on the negative side is the positive side, and the terminal on the other side is the negative side.

Note that, depending on the case, the terminals for the positive side and the negative side may be provided on the same side.

Next, an unmanned guided vehicle (an example of a vehicle) equipped with the above-mentioned rechargeable battery (hereinafter simply referred to as a battery) will be explained based on FIG. 2. Note that this transport vehicle is configured to automatically transfer batteries to and from an automatic battery charging device, which will be described later.

That is, this carrier 11 includes a carrier body (hereinafter simply referred to as the main body) 13 in which a storage chamber 12 for the battery 1 is formed in the center, and a battery 1 storage chamber 12 disposed in the lower part of the body 13. A vertical position provided on the side of the main body 13 for aligning the delivery@place (hereinafter referred to as vehicle-side delivery device) 14 and the vehicle-side delivery device 14 and the battery delivery device on the automatic charging device side. and left and right position detectors such as magnets 15.16;
An optical communication unit 17 that is also provided on the side of the main body 13 and sends and receives signals to and from the automatic charging device side;
It is composed of an auxiliary battery 18 placed at a suitable position inside the main body. Of course, male side plate-shaped contact terminals 19 are provided on both side walls of the storage chamber 12. Further, the vehicle-side delivery device 14 is composed of a roller 20 for transferring the battery 1 and a driving device (not shown) for driving the battery 1.

Next, an automatic battery charging device will be explained based on FIG. 3.

This automatic charging device 31 has a vertical groove 32 on the negative side.
A device main body 33 in which a battery is formed, a battery delivery device (hereinafter referred to as a charging device side delivery device) 34 disposed in this groove 32, and a transport vehicle provided in a lower side of the groove 32 of the device main body 33. An optical communication unit 35 that exchanges signals with the optical communication unit 17 of 11, and the device main body 3
An automatic charger 37 is arranged at a predetermined position on the upper surface of 3 and has male side plate-like contact terminals 36 on both inner walls thereof.
and a battery transport device [38] which is similarly arranged along the upper surface of the 8-position main body 33 and passing through the automatic charger 37. Further, the charging device side delivery device 34 includes a mounting table 39 for the battery 1 which is provided to be able to rise and fall and rotate freely within the groove portion 32, and this mounting table 3.
A driving vJ device (not shown) that raises and lowers the 9 via a screw mechanism 4◇ and rotates it in a horizontal plane, and a pair of left and right guide plates 41 provided on the upper surface of the mounting table 39.
, and a magnetic sensor 42 for vertical position detection and a magnetic sensor 43 for horizontal position detection, which are similarly provided at both ends of the outer surface of the mounting table 39. Furthermore, the above W
1 device 39 is composed of a transfer roller (not shown) and its driving device (not shown), and the conveying device 38 is also composed of a conveying roller (not shown) and its driving device @. (not shown).

Next, automatic battery charging work will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

Transport vehicle 111I! ! When it becomes necessary to charge the battery 1 of I, the transport vehicle 11 first connects each other's optical communication unit 17.
35 to send and receive signals, move to the automatic charging device 31, and switch its power source to the auxiliary battery 18 side. Next, after detecting the position of the vertical position magnet 15 by the vertical position detecting magnetic sensor 42 and aligning the U mounting table 39 on the automatic charging device 31 side with the upper surface of the transfer roller 20 on the transport vehicle 11 side, The positions of the left and right magnets 16 are detected by the left and right position detection magnetic sensors 43, and the transport vehicle 11 is finely adjusted so that the battery 1 and t! ! Stand 3
Perform alignment with 9. When this positioning is completed, the transfer rollers of both transfer devices 14 and 34 are driven to transfer the battery 1 to the mounting table 39 side. Next, the left and right guide plates 41 are moved closer to each other to correct the direction of the battery 1, and then the mounting table 39 is raised to the upper surface of the automatic charging device 31. Next, after rotating the mounting table 39 by 90', the transfer roller and the conveyance roller are driven to move the battery 1 into the automatic charger 37 as shown by arrow a.
Charge the battery. Note that at this time, the widths of the left and right guide plates 41 of the mounting table 39 are widened. Next, the charged battery 1, which has already been charged and is waiting on a conveying roller opposite to the automatic charger 37, is moved onto the mounting table 39 as shown by the arrow. The guide plates 41 are moved closer to each other again to correct the direction of the charged battery 1. Next, the mounting table 39 is placed on the transport vehicle 11.
After lowering the transfer roller to the 20th surface, align the left and right positions. In addition, if the conveyance vehicle 11 has been stopped for a long time,
Since the left and right positions match, only that confirmation is performed.

Next, after driving the transfer rollers of both transfer devices 14.34 and moving the charged battery 1 to the storage chamber 12 of the transport vehicle 11, the male contact terminal 19 is connected to the female contact terminal. 3
Connect to. Then, after releasing the auxiliary battery 18, the transport vehicle 11 starts the transport operation again. In addition, on the automatic charging device 31 side, the width of the guide plates 41 of the U stand 39 is widened to prepare for the next battery 1 to be carried in, and when the charging of the battery 1 that has just been carried in is completed,
It is moved to the conveyance roller on the opposite side and is kept on standby until the next replacement.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, the receiving terminal of the rechargeable battery is made into a contact type, and a battery delivery device is provided in the car @ and the automatic charging device that use this rechargeable battery, respectively. Therefore, the charging battery can be replaced and charged automatically.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is an external perspective view of a rechargeable battery, Figure 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an automatic guided vehicle, Figure 3 is a perspective view of an automatic battery charging device, and Figure 4 is a diagram of battery charging work in an automatic guided vehicle. Flowcharts, FIGS. 5 to 7 show conventional examples, where FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an automatic guided vehicle, FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a manual battery replacement/charging method, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view illustrating an automatic battery charging method. 1... Rechargeable battery, 3... Contact terminal, 11.
...Transportation vehicle, 12...Storage room, 14...Delivery device, 18...Auxiliary battery, 19...Contact type terminal,
31... automatic charging device, 34... delivery device, 36
...Contact terminal, 37...Automatic charger, 38...
Conveyance device, 39... mounting table.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rechargeable battery having a contact terminal for receiving power on the side of the battery body. 2. A storage chamber for a rechargeable battery with a contact terminal for receiving power on the side surface is formed in the vehicle body, and a transfer device is provided on the bottom surface of the storage chamber to freely transfer the rechargeable battery to and from an external charging device. Vehicles equipped with an auxiliary battery. 3. An automatic charging device that receives a rechargeable battery from a vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery having a contact type terminal and automatically charges the battery, and the charging battery is connected to the side of the device body between the vehicle and the vehicle-side delivery device. A charging device is provided with a charging device-side delivery device for delivering and receiving the battery, and a battery transporting device is provided to transport the charged battery between the charging device-side delivery device and an automatic charger provided at an appropriate location in the device body. Automatic charging device.